Even with episodes like Code of Honor, Justice and Angel One? I am sorry, but season one of TNG is mostly trash, with some of the worst Star Trek episodes ever. Season 1 of Discovery may not be perfect, but its way better then season 1 of TNG.
Comparing TNG's first season to Discovery's first season
- Thread starter Admiral Archer
- Start date
Even with episodes like Code of Honor, Justice and Angel One? I am sorry, but season one of TNG is mostly trash, with some of the worst Star Trek episodes ever. Season 1 of Discovery may not be perfect, but its way better then season 1 of TNG.
No way! TNGs first season suffered from trying to imitate TOS a wee bit but I still kind of liked it! The Star Trek vibe was very evident in the stories even if it was a totally new cast! I can't say the same for the glittering and flashing Discovery!
JB
JB
From my perspective, it is odd to have to go outside of Star Trek to get something that feels like Star Trek (The Orville) while there is something with the Star Trek label being produced.
In defense of TNG' first season, while I acknowledge some really weak episodes in the first half of the season, the second half has classics like "The Big Goodbye", "11001001", "Heart of Glory", "Conspiracy" and underrated gems like "Too Short a Season" and "Symbiosis". The episodes are both edgy and crazy(exploding heads and worm eating in Conspiracy, Riker getting sucked into black slime creature in Skin Of Evil) and at the same time the shows have a warm and uplifting Rodenberry utopianism and family feeling. I want to see a new Star Trek series emulate the style and feel of the best TNG season one episodes. I love that combination of edginess and warmth in Star Trek.
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TNG S1 they were finding their feet with the characters and new types of stories they could tell, but it held a sense of adventure and hope and fun (as well as some campy goodness), whilst also trying to weave in elements of social commentary. Put simply, it is what Trek is about.
Over time the series matured and found its tone, but S1 always makes me smile (and cringe at moments).
Over time the series matured and found its tone, but S1 always makes me smile (and cringe at moments).
I haven't made it to Conspiracy, Skin of Evil or Symbiosis yet in my rewatch, but none of those other episodes are at all classics. In comparison to later seasons and other shows, The Big Goodbye is the only one of them that's above average, and that's all it is.
I'd pretty much rate them all above what Discovery gave us in its first season. Beyond that, it is amazing all the seeds that were planted in season one that would grow throughout the series.
I'd take the Vulcan Hello and TBATBS over every one of them, and those weren't even the best episodes in DSC.
They pretty much corrupted Michael Burnham right off the bat for me. We're told that she is a great first officer and ready for the Captain's chair, yet at the first hint of trouble, she breaks down and runs to Vulcan space daddy.
It wasn't a good look for the first minority female lead.
Skin of Evil and Symbiosis are both very subpar episodes made worse by the fact that they each have at least one horrific cringe worthy scene in them, if not several.
Despite what you hear from a couple of dedicated detractors, the first season of TNG is not even close in terms of quality compared to DSC. That's not to say that DSC doesn't have its own collection of problems. But the reality of it is, season one of TNG has some of the worst episodes of the entire franchise sprinkled throughout. And if the purpose of this exercise is to look at the merits and quality of a full season of one show versus the other, that weighs heavily in such an analysis.
The TNG season one gems don't nearly make up for the stinkers and other low-quality episodes that that season is littered with. People talk about the tone and the feel quite a bit, and I find that interesting, but not relevant.
Despite it's flaws, DSC basically had one of the best first seasons in the franchise (which is not saying a whole lot). People can hate it all they want, and they will express their disappointment in it, and wax poetically about the feel and tone and joy that they feel is missing, but at the end of the day, it's all heavily biased looking back through a lens where we know already how those other series turned out. It's easy to say the TNG's first season was good when you can look back on the entirety of that series and know how well it turned out. If you put yourself in a bubble looking only at each of their first seasons however, there really is no argument to be made.
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ENTs first season is a lot worse than TNGs!
JB
JB
Boy, you said it johnnybear!
Cheers, 2takes! 
JB
JB
Yep.So you are the arbiter of quality now?
Sarek happened to be extremely knowledgeable about the klingons, of which the federation was largely (and stupidly) ignorant. Turning to someone you trust for advice on what's essentially a first contact situation is not what i'd pick as the biggest flaw in the episode.
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